Duncan Garrow

University of Reading, Department of Archaeology, Faculty Member

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Duncan Garrow’s research focuses mainly on the prehistory of north-western Europe. His research interests include the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition; long-term histories of deposition; the integration of developer-funded and university-based archaeology; archaeological theory; and interdisciplinary approaches to material culture. He recently finished working on a three-year research project entitled ‘Technologies of Enchantment? Celtic Art in Britain during the Iron Age and Early Roman periods’. The book which resulted will be published by Oxford University Press in 2012. He is currently co-directing (with Fraser Sturt) a major AHRC-funded project entitled ‘Stepping stones to the Neolithic? Islands, maritime connectivity and the ‘western seaways’ of Britain, 5000-3500 BC’. For more information see the Stepping Stones project website: www.neolithicsteppingstones.org.
Address: Department of Archaeology,
University of Reading,
Whiteknights
PO Box 227
Reading RG6 6AB

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Cooper, A., D. Garrow & C. Gibson 2020. Spectrums of depositional practice in later prehistoric Britain and beyond. Grave goods, hoards and deposits ‘in between’. Archaeological Dialogues 27, 135–157

Archaeological Dialogues , 2020

This paper critically evaluates how archaeologists define 'grave goods' in relation to the full s... more This paper critically evaluates how archaeologists define 'grave goods' in relation to the full spectrum of depo-sitional contexts available to people in the past, including hoards, rivers and other 'special' deposits. Developing the argument that variations in artefact deposition over time and space can only be understood if different 'types' of find location are considered together holistically, we contend that it is also vital to look at the points where traditionally defined contexts of deposition become blurred into one another. In this paper, we investigate one particular such category-body-less object deposits at funerary sites-in later prehistoric Britain. This category of evidence has never previously been analysed collectively, let alone over the extended time period considered here. On the basis of a substantial body of evidence collected as part of a nationwide survey, we demonstrate that body-less object deposits were a significant component of funerary sites during later prehistory. Consequently, we go on to question whether human remains were actually always a necessary element of funerary deposits for prehistoric people, suggesting that the absence of human bone could be a positive attribute rather than simply a negative outcome of taphonomic processes. We also argue that modern, fixed depositional categories sometimes serve to mask a full understanding of the complex realities of past practice and ask whether it might be productive in some instances to move beyond inter-pretively confining terms such as 'grave', 'hoard' and 'cenotaph'. Our research demonstrates that is it not only interesting in itself to scrutinize archaeological evidence that does not easily fit into traditional narratives, but that the process of doing so also sheds new light on the validity of our present-day categories, enabling deeper insights into how people in the past ordered their material and conceptual worlds. Whilst our main focus is later prehistoric Britain, the issues we consider are potentially relevant across all periods and regions.

Duncan Garrow

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